Colorful Coconut Bliss Balls

I've become pretty excited about experimenting with natural, food-based dyes after the Easter eggs I made this year with my son, Jones. I'm so pleased with how these colorful coconut sprinkles turned out and I'm very surprised I haven't seen them around before. I think this fun and easy method should be much more popular. Since I made them, Jones has been sprinkling them on everything. Colorful coconut sprinkles on his morning smoothie, then on his apple slices with almond butter. At dinner he asked for the green sprinkles to put on top of his broccoli. "To match" he said. Of course I had to let him, just grateful that I have a toddler who willingly eats broccoli.

Colorful coconut sprinkles

These sprinkles would be great on cupcakes, fruit ice cream, or the bliss ball recipe below.

• 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

• spirulina powder

• red beet, peeled & chopped into chunks

• turmeric powder & yellow beets, peeled & chopped into chunks*

* I found that only using turmeric flavored the coconut too strongly, and only using the yellow beets didn't create a vibrant enough hue of yellow. 

Divide 1 cup coconut flakes into 3 separate mason jars then add the dying agent (spirulina, turmeric/yellow beet chunks, red beet chunks). Seal the lid and shake well until desired color is reached and evenly distributed.

Colorful bliss balls

• 1 cup dates

• 1 cup pecans

• 1/3 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

• 1 tbsp cacao powder

• 1 tbsp water

• 1 tsp coconut oil

• ¼ tsp cinnamon

• pinch of salt

• pinch of cayenne powder (optional)

Soak the dates and pecans in water for 1 hour. Then drain and add to a blender with the rest of the ingredients. Blend until well combined and a dough is formed. Another additional tablespoon or two of water can be added if the mixture is too dry. Roll tablespoon sized amounts of dough into balls with your hands. Put them on a large plate or baking pan and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

For the colourful coating 

Pour the colored coconut into a small shallow bowl and roll to coat the bliss balls evenly. Return to the refrigerator for an additional 30 minutes before serving.